Geronimo Wind Energy Sells Prairie Rose Wind Farm, GE Acquires Stake

What’s the best way to ensure a project uses your products? Buy an ownership stake. And that’s exactly what GE (GE :NYSE) did as Enel Green Power purchased the 200 megawatt (MW) Prairie Rose Wind Farm from Geronimo Wind Energy.

Enel Green Power also said they were selling an “ownership interest” in the project to GE.

The $350 million project will deploy 119, 1.68 MW GE wind turbines.

The sale of the project shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone as Geronimo originally announced the project in 2008 and was touting that it would be producing electricity in 2011. But $350 million isn’t easy to find these days and selling probably became a necessity.

By acquiring a ownership interest, GE keeps the project away from Siemens (SI :NYSE), who has been aggressively pursuing wind projects in the United States.

Shares of GE were up 0.63 percent in midday trading.